Oxfordshire villagers fund BT fibre optic rollout

Telco BT claims to have provided nearly all the residents of an Oxfordshire village with access to fibre optic broadband.

Islip in Oxfordshire had not been included in BT’s 2.5 billion commercial fibre optic broadband rollout strategy for economic reasons.

However, villagers agreed to stump up just over £11,000 towards the cost and, because it is close to the fibre-upgraded telephone exchange at Kidlington, BT agreed to bring fibre to the settlement.

The company’s local network business Openreach will soon start work connecting the cabinet serving Islip to the fibre network in Kidlington. Engineering work is expected to finish in June 2013.

Alison Mitchell, chair of Islip Parish Council, said: “Due to the distance from the local exchange at Kidlington, our villagers have received extremely slow broadband to date over the existing copper lines.

“High-speed broadband is of critical importance for many residents, and...the arrival of fibre broadband in the village will make a massive different to many of our lives,” added Mitchell.

Bill Murphy, managing director for next generation access at BT, added: “We encourage other communities to talk to us about their options. We want to provide fibre speeds to as many people as possible and in many cases local residents can make a real difference in bringing fibre to their area.”

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